In the first half of the twentieth century a variety of factors - stagnant extraction processes, fierce competition from abroad, less favourable geological endowment, unstable demand during the interwar years - led Belgian coal producers to unify in order to preserve their production capacities....

In the first half of the twentieth century a variety of factors - stagnant extraction processes, fierce competition from abroad, less favourable geological endowment, unstable demand during the interwar years - led Belgian coal producers to unify in order to preserve their production capacities....

[eng] Abstract A quantitative study of changes of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais coal cartel stability during interwar period forms the basis of the following paper. Collusion stability is defined by measuring volatility of cartel members ' market shares. We present the methodology used to construct...